This invention relates to signs. In one aspect, the invention relates to a method of producing a sign by fixing an image to a rigid substrate while in another aspect, the invention relates to a method in which the image is first printed by electrophotography onto a transfer film in an optically reversed manner and the rigid substrate is coated with a thermally tackifiable substance. In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a method for producing small batches of rigid signs in a facile, quick and inexpensive manner.
Rigid signs comprise an image carried on an inflexible substrate. Such signs are often used in an outdoor setting in which durability of the image is an important quality of the sign.
Rigid signs are typically produced in low volumes, e.g. less than 100 signs at a time, and are typically made by a silk screen printing process. While this process produces rigid signs with acceptable quality, silk screening is not cost effective for small production runs. Silk screening is time consuming and by its very nature, precludes quick order completion. At the moment, a good method does not exist for the rapid preparation of small volume production runs of surface-printed rigid signs.